Atlanta (#6) upsets Houston (#3)

By Shelly Shankya

The two teams, Houston Roller Derby and Atlanta Rollergirls, have met four times in the recent past with Atlanta taking the win three out of those four. And today's matchup wasn't much different.

Photo by Taura Horn Photography

Atlanta demanded attention from the first whistle with jammer Merchant of Menace gaining 6 points. That control from Atlanta lasted through the first, in fact.

With strong blocking from the Dirty South Derby Girls, headed up by Alassin Sane, the Houston jammers were only able to get lead jammer about one-third of the time. Blocker Agent Maulder was able to hold Houston jammer Mistilla the Killa for nearly an entire jam, giving Merchant four natural grand slams plus a few points. Houston's time in the penalty box, along with an inability to regularly assist their jammers made Atlanta's lead seem effortless. The half closed 84-42.

"Our jammers have been working really hard, and we're beefing up our training," Atlanta jammer Hollicidal said. "We've been cross-training, doing endurance training, and doing a lot of core work. The standards of the WFTDA have just gotten so much higher, and we're trying to get tougher and stronger."

Just as Atlanta's Merchant of Venice held on to lead jammer in the first, she came out just as strong in the second, gaining lead and 15 points in the first jam. Houston was able to answer back in the following two jams, holding Atlanta scoreless. However, the tight pack play and jammer prowess for the Dirty South Derby Girls proved to be too much. During the ninth and tenth jams, the teams exchanged power jams. And during the nineteenth jam, after Nora Gretz for Atlanta grabbed lead jam, Houston's Brandi Brown completed a star pass to pivot Mistilla the Killa. She got through the pack on her initial pass, but drew a fourth minor penalty. This caused some confusion between jams, but it was deemed she drew the penalty as pivot, not jammer, ensuring that her team did not end up jammerless in the next jam.

Houston called two timeouts in the last two minutes of the game as a last chance effort to come back; they needed 60 points. Atlanta held strong with lead jammer status for the final jams of the game, handing Houston an upset; it was also the first upset of the day.

"It was amazing to be the first upset of the day," Hollicidal said. "We've been working hard to improve this season. We've added an hour to our practices and we've increased our intensity, as well as our skill level. We've been watching a lot of derby, and we're just happy to have come out and put it on the track."

Atlanta advances to play the winner of the evening's final game between Kansas City and tournament hosts No Coast. Houston moves to the consolation bracket to play the loser of the Kansas City / No Coast game.

Atlanta Rollergirls (#6) 165
Houston Roller Derby (#3) 104